Ehlers continues to be ‘special player’ for Hurricanes in Stanley Cup Final

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Amid all the self-reflection about struggles against the pressure of the Vegas Golden Knights and the lack of scoring from his top line, there was a clear bright light for Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour on the eve of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Nikolaj Ehlers Ehlers.

“Great,” Brind’Amour said on Wednesday. “Obviously, right? I mean, he might have been the most dynamic player out there; certainly got us two goals on his own. A special player, and he’s been like that all playoffs -- all year -- for us.”

This was why Ehlers signed here.

After so many shots taken at so many scorers -- Jake Guentzel and Mikko Rantanen among them -- the six-year, $51 million contract ($8.5 million average annual value) the Hurricanes signed Ehlers to on July 3, 2025, has been a home run -- for team and player. That continued in Game 1 of the Cup Final at Lenovo Center on Tuesday, when Ehlers scored the first two goals of the game, helping Carolina build an early lead before it eventually lost 5-4 to Vegas.

The Hurricanes will try to even the best-of-7 series in Game 2 here on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

“I think it’s been a really good fit for him right away,” Carolina forward Taylor Hall said. “I think the style that we play and his speed -- he’s not a physical guy, but he can forecheck really well and he creates turnovers.

“So, I think stylistically (signing here) was a really good fit for him, and I think he was excited to get somewhere new and have a new opportunity. He’s a really easygoing guy that can fit in well with any situation, and we’ve really enjoyed playing with him and getting to know him.”

No one has welcomed the Denmark native more than fellow countryman Frederik Andersen, who drove him around Raleigh and its surrounding areas the first few days after he arrived like, as Ehlers put it, “a private chauffeur.”

“It’s been fun so far,” the Hurricanes goalie said. “There are very few of us in the League (four), so having the chance to speak some Danish in the room, finally, instead of listening to Russian and Finnish that you don’t understand, it’s been fun to give it back to them a little bit.”

Ehlers arrived after 10 seasons with the Winnipeg Jets, who selected the forward with the No. 9 pick at the 2014 NHL Draft. Ehlers had 520 points (225 goals, 295 assists) in 674 regular-season games and 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 45 playoff games with the Jets.

This season, on a new team and playing a different system, he had a career-high 71 points (26 goals, 45 assists) in 82 games, a run that has continued in these playoffs, where he has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 13 games, including three multipoint games in his past five. He’s even adjusted to their hard-hitting style.

As Ehlers said a week ago during the Eastern Conference Final, “I’ve played against this team for my whole career, and obviously these past many years this team has been a really good team, a really hard team to play against. They play the same way every single shift and they just lay it on you, and I didn’t want to be on the other side anymore. It’s been fun to be part of that.”

Two of his six playoff goals came Tuesday, including the opening goal, scored just 25 seconds into the first period. It marked the third-fastest goal to start a Cup Final, and the fastest since Reggie Leach needed 21 seconds to score at the start of the championship round for the Philadelphia Flyers in 1976.

It was a demonstration of what Ehlers can do and what he brings. He got ahead of Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore along the left side of the ice, raced down on a 2-on-1 and ripped a wrist shot past goalie Carter Hart from the left face-off circle.

He scored again at 12:08 of the first, after a cross-ice pass from Vegas center Jack Eichel was intercepted by Jalen Chatfield and sent ahead to Ehlers, who went forehand to backhand and slid the puck under Hart’s left pad.

It was a brilliant debut on the Cup Final stage for Ehlers, and Carolina will need more of it Thursday and beyond.

More of everything.

On a team whose power play has shorted out during the playoffs (7-for-58), Ehlers could play an even bigger role as the series progresses. Carolina went 0-for-2 and did not have a shot on goal with the man-advantage in Game 1 after going 2-for-19 against the Montreal Canadiens in the conference final.

“You’ve got to score some goals, and we’ve been able to do that this year,” Ehlers said of the power play. “And we’ve got to find better ways to do it in (the Cup Final).”

They will get a chance to improve in Game 2, to try to replicate the impressive start Ehlers provided Tuesday.

Not that the Hurricanes are feeling defeated; they have, after all, at least one highlight reel from Game 1.

 “It’s one game,” Ehlers said. “Obviously we would rather be up 1-0, but there are six games to go. We are fine with taking this to seven (games) if we need to.”